Craft Tuesday: How to Print on Tissue Paper

Next week I will be using this method for my craft, so I thought I would spread it out to two weeks and really give you a good idea of HOW to print on tissue paper!

It's simple and shouldn't give you any problems, if you do it correctly. Paper jams with tissue paper (I have heard) can be very bad.

You will need:

• Inkjet printer
• Tissue paper
• Regular printer paper
• Scotch tape
• Scissors

First you have to pick out the picture or image you would like to print, and the size which you will need to print. I chose a picture of my son and printed a 12x12. Since my printer is an ordinary inkjet I could not print a single 12x12 image. Using a photo editing software (I used Photoshop, but a very simple one like Preview will work just as well), I divided my picture into sections using a normal grid pattern. My picture was cropped down to 4 6x6 squares, and I scaled them down to 90% (in the printer options when you click "print") when I printed them so that I could do 2 to a page.

Before being ironed

When you have finished picking and preparing your image, we will need to prepare the tissue paper! The paper I had was a bit wrinkled so I decided to smooth it out with an iron. Simply turn your iron on to a medium setting, place your tissue paper on your ironing surface and cover it with a light cloth. I opted for a thin, clean hand towel.  Iron the tissue paper on one side and then flip it over and iron the other side. This may not get out all the big creases, but it will definitely help your picture print more smoothly.

After being ironed

Next, place your tissue paper glossy side up on a table. The matte side of the tissue paper will be the side that will be exposed and printed on. Lay your paper on the tissue and cut around it leaving a border of at least 1" on all sides. Begin folding these borders over, creating neat creases, and taping the tissue tightly to the printer paper. I used 4-6 small pieces of scotch tape on each side.

After your edges are secured, fold the corners in tape them down completely to prevent paper jams.

Corners taped down

Ta-dah! Your paper is ready to print on! Remove all other paper from your printer and place this paper in so that when it feeds in the image is printed on the tissue paper.

After your image is printed, let the ink dry. Then cut it out while it is still taped onto the printer paper. This makes it MUCH easier to cut evenly without tearing the tissue paper. I only got half of my image done, sadly, as I ran out of scotch tape. But you will see the whole thing in next week's craft!

What to do with these tissue paper images? Next week I will be putting this one on a canvas. You can put them on the inside of mason jars or transfer the image onto a wooden sign. What do you like doing with your tissue paper prints? Share your crafts and be featured on Let's Brag Thursday!

Inspiration Sunday: Yarn, yarn, yarn (and no knitting!)

Lately I have been contemplating taking up knitting. Right now my budget is super slim, but once I am financially able I plan on diving in and buying myself needles, yarn, a book, the whole shebang. So what's this week's inspiration? Why, yarn of course.

Yarn letters, yarn wreaths, yarn bottles. I have seen them all over Pinterest. Think of all the things you could wrap with yarn...

"The original yarn letters" on Etsy.com

Yarn covered beer bottles. Try wine bottles, mason jars, anything!

Yarn covered wreaths with felt flowers

Cover a lampshade with yarn!

Make yarn bowls, yarn "lanterns," yarn...tree covers?

Yarn bowls. Click above link to get the DIY. Use the same
adhesive to make the lanterns below...

 

 

...with balloons!

I don't even know where to begin, but I LOVE all of this color

Yarn for the holidays!

Small yarn balls, or small Styrofoam balls
covered in yarn, with burlap scarf, wire & buttons

Yarn ball turkey (or Styrofoam) with felt face features
and paper feathers for writing what everyone
is thankful for.

Wrap a Styrofoam cone with yarn
and add miniature ornaments

Use yarn as ribbon!
Perfect for knitters or crocheters, or little kids

Foodie Friday: Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

These delicious cinnamon roll pancakes are adapted from a recipe I found at Recipe Girl. I've really only altered two or three things, so the credit still goes to her for this glorious treat!

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes are great for breakfast, brunch, or even dessert- they are truly a sweet treat.

This recipe makes enough cinnamon filling and cream cheese glaze for A LOT of pancakes. I made 6 large (I'm talking 8") pancakes, and still had enough cinnamon filling for at least 6 more, and enough cream cheese glaze for a dozen more, easily.

You will need:
Your favorite pancake mix & the ingredients it calls for
1 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 cup & 4 tablespoons butter
2 oz cream cheese
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


I. Begin by mixing your cinnamon filling.

1. In the microwave, melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a microwave-safe bowl
2. In a small mixing bowl, stir together brown sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter until completely incorporated. The mixture should not be liquidy, but it will seperate a little, so you'll have to stir it together again later when its used
3. Spoon filling into an icing bag or into the corner of a Ziploc bag that will be used as an icing bag
4. Set aside for use later

II. Next, make your cream cheese glaze. In the original recipe this could be done by melting butter and cream cheese in a bowl, but I had to reheat it several times in order to keep the mixture warm so the powdered sugar could incorporate fully. I wasn't able to mix it together fully by this method, so I would highly suggest doing this over low-medium heat in a saucepan on the stove to achieve the desired consistency.

1. Melt 1/2 cup of butter and all of your cream cheese and whisk together until smooth
2. Slowly whisk in powdered sugar
3. Whisk in vanilla extract
4. Set aside for use later

III. Lastly, mix together your pancake batter as instructed on your mix, or according to the pancake recipe you are using. Now, we will construct the pancakes!

1. Pour pancake batter onto a warmed up skillet to the desired size (I made large, 8" pancakes)
2. Using your kitchen scissors, snip a small part of the corner of your icing/Ziploc bag off so you can squeeze your filling out
3. Starting in the center of your pancake, spiral your filling outwards
4. Cook your pancakes as normal
5. Stack them up, drizzle them with your cream cheese glaze (if it has cooled, then you can zap it in the microwave for a 10 or 15 seconds), and serve

Enjoy! They're sure to be a hit! Even my little one enjoyed them!

Let's Brag: Halloween Costumes!

So I know that Brag Thursdays are supposed to be for readers to submit their own fun crafts and cooking, but today I am going to brag about the last minute costume accessories I made. I will probably post a DIY when it gets closer to costume season again, but it seemed silly to do it now. If anyone is interested in how I did them NOW then I will go ahead and post it! They are pretty simple and straight forward though!

Procrastination got the best of me again when it came to my son's Halloween costume. We waited too long to order it online, and we wouldn't be able to get it on time unless we paid on obscene amount for expedited shipping. So, I was on the hunt for a costume. I found a cute monkey hat at Target (of course, I love Target) so I decided that I would put on his brown pants, brown jacket, the monkey hat and call it a day. But wait, monkeys have tails! So here is what I whipped up in about an hour.

I used some textured felt, embroidery floss, a sew on snap, poly-fill, and voila! A monkey tail! And look how wonderful it looked on Alex.

 

Now, costume number two. My friend Connie found a cute pair of Hello Kitty ears online, but they were sold out, and she just wanted something simple. No fuzzy feathers or sequins, and she didn't want them on a headband, but on alligator clips. Okay. Deal. Using some white and red felt, with more embroidery floss (I have a lot just kind of sitting around, waiting to be used), I was able to make these for about $5. $3.50 of that was the hair clips, and then I just rounded up because I spent $5 on 1/2 yard of each color and I obviously did not use anywhere NEAR that much. It took me 2 or 3 hours to make the pattern,  cut, sew, stuff, and glue. Ta-Dah! Hello Kitty ears!

I don't have a picture of her wearing them, but they did turn out really well. Keep in mind I was in a car wreck they day before I sewed them and my hand was a bit beaten up, so they are a little rough looking... but I think they turned out really well despite that.

Hope everyone had a happy Halloween! I can't wait to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas now! Hooray! Don't forget to submit your craft & cooking projects that you want to brag about! You don't need to have a blog to contribute, but if you do I would be happy to link back to it.